teachable
Banned deucer.
[OVERVIEW]
Diancie has been blessed with an incredible unique Rock / Fairy typing along with access to Stealth Rock and the coveted Heal Bell. Additionally, relatively high-Base Power STAB moves in Diamond Storm and Moonblast allow Diancie to hit hard despite its unimpressive attacking stats; both moves possess useful secondary effects, with Diamond Storm potentially raising Diancie's Defense and Moonblast potentially lowering the foe's Special Attack. However, Diancie's impressive defensive stats are let down by its incredibly low base HP and low base Speed, meaning it is both not as effective as it could be and forced into a defensive role outside of Trick Room-oriented strategies. While Diancie's typing and the resistances that go with it are unique, its typing sadly leaves it without a resistance to Fighting-type and Poison-type attacks, meaning it is not able to effectively wall Pokemon such as Pangoro, Machamp, and Salazzle. This means Diancie faces competition from other defensive Rock-type Stealth Rock users; Rhyperior is better offensively due to its STAB combination and higher Attack stat, while Gigalith is bulkier due to Sand Stream and is able to effectively check Salazzle due to its resistance to Poison. The most important factor harming Diancie's effectiveness is its lack of reliable recovery outside of Leftovers or a one-time heal from Z-Heal Bell; it can quickly get worn down from repeated hits from Pokemon it walls such as Swellow and Zoroark. Diancie's immunity to Dragon-type moves is overshadowed by the fact that most Dragon-type Pokemon can take advantage of Diancie's Rock typing to hit it super effectively, such as Flygon and Zygarde-10% using their Ground-type STAB moves or Kommo-o using Flash Cannon. In addition, due to a lack of access to a strong physical Fairy-type move, Diancie is usually forced into running a mixed attacking set. Having to rely on STAB moves or Toxic to deal noticeable amounts of damage also leaves Diancie easily walled by most Steel-types, like Registeel and Escavalier.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Diamond Storm / Toxic
move 4: Heal Bell
item: Leftovers / Normalium Z
ability: Clear Body
nature: Sassy / Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Stealth Rock allows Diancie to provide its team with entry hazard support. Moonblast is Diancie's strongest Fairy-type STAB option and allows it to threaten Dark-, Dragon-, and Fighting-types such as Zoroark, Kommo-o, and Pangoro. Diamond Storm is the strongest consistent Rock-type STAB move at Diancie's disposal, allowing Diancie to hit Fire-, Ice-, Flying-, and Bug-types such as Moltres, Salazzle, Yanmega, and Rotom-H for super effective damage and rounding out its coverage on Pokemon that resist Moonblast such as Escavalier and Mega Camerupt. Power Gem is an alternative Rock-type STAB move that allows Diancie to be a fully committed special attacker and have more PP at its disposal, which is particularly useful for beating Pressure Moltres. However, the extra power from Diamond Storm is usually appreciated. Toxic is another alternative option that allows Diancie to better handle more defensive Pokemon such as Gligar, Gigalith, and Cresselia, which would otherwise beat Diancie one-on-one. However, running Toxic will allow Steel-types such as Durant, Escavalier, and Registeel to switch into Diancie even more easily than they already do. Heal Bell allows Diancie to function as a cleric for its team, healing off status such as burn and paralysis.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread attempts to maximize Diancie's special bulk, boosting its low base HP stat as high as possible while further increasing its monstrous Special Defense stat. A Sassy nature is chosen to further boost Diancie's Special Defense stat while preserving both of its attacking stats; a reduced Speed stat is fine, as it would not be outspeeding much anyway. Leftovers is the preferred item choice, providing Diancie with a form of repeated recovery. Assuming you have no Z-Crystal in use on your team, Normalium Z is an alternative item choice that provides Diancie with a one-time heal to full HP. However, it is typically outclassed by Leftovers due to Z-Heal Bell only being usable once and the opportunity cost of using a Z-Crystal on a defensive Pokemon.
Usage Tips
========
Diancie's lack of reliable recovery must be kept in mind, as although it is very specially defensive, it can eventually find itself overwhelmed from entry hazards or repeated resisted attacks such as Swellow's Boomburst. Diancie can find opportunities to set up Stealth Rock or use Heal Bell when it is in front of a Pokemon it threatens, such as Swellow or Moltres. If neither of Diancie's support moves are necessary, it can use whatever attacking move is appropriate. Be wary of Diamond Storm's low PP, as it can quickly be depleted by proper predictions from your opponent or by Pokemon with Pressure such as Moltres. If utilizing Leftovers, Diancie should avoid being hit by Knock Off, as Leftovers is its only form of recovery. Conversely, Diancie does not mind switching into Knock Off if using Normalium Z; however, it is still not recommended, as Pokemon that would typically run Knock Off such as Pangoro and Machamp can still pressure Diancie with other moves.
Team Options
========
As Diancie is weak to both Steel-type and Water-type attacks, Water-type Pokemon such as Milotic, Slowbro, and Quagsire are good choices on teams utilizing Diancie. Similarly, Grass-type Pokemon such as Roserade, Chesnaught, Shaymin, and Rotom-C make excellent partners due to them threatening Water-type Pokemon Diancie has issues with such as Milotic and Slowbro. Pokemon capable of applying pressure to the Steel-types Diancie draws in are appreciated, notably Fire-types such as Salazzle, Moltres, and Mega Camerupt. Pokemon that are immune to or resist Ground-type attacks, such as Gligar, Flygon, Bronzong, and Chesnaught, are appreciated teammates. Diancie especially values the entry hazard removal provided by Gligar due to its lack of recovery. Pokemon capable of sponging physical attacks directed at Diancie such as Gligar, Chesnaught, and Quagsire are great partners. In turn, Diancie is able to provide cleric support for them. Due to Diancie's lack of reliable recovery, Wish support from Pokemon such as Umbreon is worth a consideration to keep Diancie healthy. Nidoqueen is a particularly threatening Pokemon to Diancie, resisting both of its STAB moves and being capable of chunking it with Earth Power; Pokemon that can handle Nidoqueen, such as Snorlax, Porygon2, Cresselia, and Bronzong, are appreciated partners. Porygon2 and Cresselia also provide Diancie with teammates that can check Salazzle; although Salazzle can not set up in front of Diancie, it is still capable of OHKOing Diancie with +2 Acid Downpour. Snorlax is typically able to use Diancie as setup fodder; as such, a Fighting-type or Steel-type check to Snorlax is appreciated, such as Pangoro, Machamp, or Doublade.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Diancie is very capable of both taking advantage of and setting Trick Room, due to its natural bulk, either on dedicated Trick Room teams or by itself. Psychic is a potential move option, allowing Diancie to severely damage Poison-types such as Nidoqueen and Venusaur, but usually it is better to forego this move for one of Diancie's other support moves. Earth Power is another potential move choice, allowing Diancie to hit Steel-types like Registeel and Doublade and Poison-types such as Nidoqueen. It also allows Diancie to hit Durant, Escavalier, and Venusaur for neutral damage. However, it is typically outclassed by other move options, as Diancie would usually rather switch out on these Pokemon. Hidden Power Fire allows Diancie to surprise Escavalier and Durant, though Diancie typically prefers Diamond Storm to threaten Moltres while still hitting these Pokemon neutrally. An offensive set with maximum Special Attack and HP investment and a Shuca Berry is an option utilizing Diancie's workable base 100 Special Attack, as it can lure in and severely damage usual checks such as Escavalier and Nidoqueen. However, Diancie has to sacrifice considerable bulk to make this set function, so it is typically not advised. A Calm Mind set may seem appealing but is typically done better by faster Fairy-types such as Comfey and Florges.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Bronzong, Escavalier, Doublade, and Durant are key Steel-types that can exploit Diancie's 4x weakness to their STAB moves. While typically not running a Steel-type move, Registeel also poses troublesome to Diancie, as it is immune to Toxic and takes little damage from any move Diancie can use against it, even Earth Power.
**Bulky Water-types**: Though they have to worry about Toxic, Water-types such as Slowbro, Slowking, Milotic, and Quagsire otherwise take on Diancie relatively well. Offensively, Feraligatr is a worrisome Pokemon that can tank any attack from Diancie, set up on it, and threaten to OHKO it with Waterfall.
**Grass-types**: Roserade, Shaymin, Rotom-C, Decidueye, and Mega Abomasnow are able to threaten Diancie with their Grass-type STAB moves. However, these Pokemon do not enjoy coming in on Diamond Storm.
**Toxic**: Due to the low PP of Heal Bell, Diancie cannot keep itself free of status versus a foe with Toxic and will find itself worn down quickly when this issue is combined with its lack of recovery.
**Ground-types**: Ground-types such as Rhyperior, Donphan, and Gligar generally threaten Diancie due to its weakness to Ground-type moves. Nidoqueen particularly troubles Diancie due to it resisting both of Diancie's STAB moves and having incredible offensive power to break through Diancie.
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